I May Be Way Off Base, but This Trade Was Pretty Right On
February 18th, 2011 by slangon
A while back Randy of Way Off Base had gotten in touch with me about having some 2010 Topps Series 2 cards that I needed. Turned out I had some random 2010 Topps Series 2 that he needed so We decided to swap. Turns out he’s a Cardinals fan so in the spirit of thinning out the cards that I have but don’t really want, I threw in a bunch of random Cards cards that I thought were pretty cool. Seems like his brain works in a similar fashion because he did the same exact thing only with Mets cards. Since we all know what 2010 Tops looks like and I’m sure many of us are tired of looking at it, I’ll focus on some of my favorites from the throw-ins that Randy included.
But first…
2010 Topps #629 Oliver Perez
Yeah, I know I just said I wasn’t going to show any of the 2010 cards he sent, but I felt like I had to make an exception for this one. You see, this was the last card that I needed to finish of my 2010 Mets set (not including Updates & Highlights) and it actually caused me stress that the last player I needed was, of all people, Oliver Perez. I really hope that this is the last Oliver Perez card I ever need to chase down. No offense to him. I’m sure he’s a nice guy and is really trying and all that, but I, as a fan, would have much less stress if the Mets just paid him his $12M so he could go be a nice guy and try real hard while wearing a different uniform. I haven’t even looked at the checklist for 2011 Topps yet, though, so for all I know I night have to chase down yet another Ollie Perez card. Yech.
Okay, now that that’s out of the way, on to the fun stuff.
2009 Upper Deck Goudey 4-in-1 #35-79 Carlos Beltran / Carlos Lee / Carlos Guillen / Carlos Quentin
I always liked all the Goudey sets. I even kind of liked the 2009 set with all it’s alien looking portrais. These 4-in-1 cards had a lot to do with that and this was actully one that I needed. I like Upper Deck’s sort of random pairings, too. HI know that the original 1935 Goudey 4-in-1’s were usually 4 guys from the same team, but they also did have cards featuring players from different teams. I wonder if they had a better system for pairing players, other than “Here’s 4 guys named Carlos.”
2007 Turkey Red #4 John Maine
Unlike Ollie Perez, I was sort of rooting for John Maine to straighten himself out. I don’t know why. Maybe because he actually seemed like he cared. Good luck in Colorado, John. Thank goodness you didn’t sign with Philly. Otherwise I would of had to hate you.
2010 Topps Vintage Legends #23 Cy Young
I don’t know what it is about taking a player and dropping him into a design from an era that he clearly does not belong in, but people seem to love it. Look at Heritage, both Topps and Bowman. You’re taking modern players and dropping them into card designs from 50+ years ago. Those things sell like hot cakes. Hell, sets like that are what roped me back into collecting. I’m not crazy about the 1987 design, although it does hold a very special place in my heart since it lands smack dab in the middle of my collecting as a kid. That being said, I don’t know if it was the best choice for the winningest pitcher ever, but hey, what do I know?
2010 Topps Heritage #500 Francisco Rodriguez All-Star SP
As I said above, retro sets had a lot to do with me getting back into the hobby. I guess I started sticking my toe in the pool sometime in 2008, and by 2009 I was full blown cannonball in the pool collecting. I made a pretty damn big push to try and finish off the 2009 Heritage set, but the SP’s proved my undoing. I actually think there’s still a handful of regular base cards from that set that I still need. Between being pretty mentally exhausted from that ordeal and not really liking the 1961 design, I never really went after the 2010 Heritage set. Somehow without trying, I’m almost done with the Mets from that set, including the short prints, thanks to folks like Randy. By the way, extra bonus lazy points to Topps for recycling the same design for a third time.
2009 Topps Legends of the Game #19 Nolan Ryan
I was actually a pretty big fan of this particular insert set. I thought it got a little weird when they had guys who were still active players in it, but overall I thought it looked cool and was interesting. It does always surprise me when Topps chooses to include Nolan Ryan as a Met, however.
2009 O-Pee-Chee #487 Carlos Beltran
Randy also sent along a few of these ’09 O-Pee-Chee cards, which I was glad to get. I was kind of intrigued by this set when it came out, but I never saw any for sale in my wanderings. I also never really actively pursued it. Either way, I kind of wanted to check it out, never did, and now I have a couple. They’re cool.
So that’s some of my favorites. There were also a bunch of other cool cards, but I’d be here all day if I posted them all. Thanks again for the trade, Randy.
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